


Recovery Command

by HBossWrites



Series: Surviving Project Freelancer [4]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Escaping Project Freelancer, Gen, Life changing injuries, Niner is Everyone's Big Sister, People Being Sneaky, The Counselor Being Sneaky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 09:44:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10409325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HBossWrites/pseuds/HBossWrites
Summary: Niner wakes up in a hospital bed after the Mother of Invention goes down. Her friends are scattered to the winds or dead, and the only person who seems to be on her side is The Counselor. Top that off with all of the other shit she's going through, and you've got a big fucking mess.It's...not a good day.





	

Niner woke up in pain and in a hospital bed. 

She’d never been a big fan of them in the first place, but this was just…extra uncomfortable, like she couldn’t get herself situated. A nurse stood next to her, poked what Niner was pretty sure was a bag of saline, and left.

“Uh, hello? What the fuck, lady? Wanna explain this bullshit?”

There was not a call button near her hand, something she would righteously complain about once someone came back into the room. The thought of screaming until she was checked on came to mind, but her throat was already sore.

Instead, Niner decided to make an assessment of her injuries. She started at the top of her head. There was a throbbing around her eyes and ears, but it was dull. Nothing like when she’d cracked her skull as a kid. Her sisters had never forgiven her for that one, and her brother had cried for weeks that she’d broken herself.

Neck was sore, that made sense, she was in a hospital bed with a shitty pillow. 

Arms felt fine, shoulders felt fine. Stomach kind of hurt, but that could have been hunger. With no idea how long she’d been out, Niner could only speculate the last time she’d eaten.

Below that though…

Dear fucking god, her legs itched! She had no idea if she needed to piss, but her legs fucking itched! Even the soles of her goddamned feet!

She tried to shift her legs to scratch the bottoms of her feet against the bed. 

Tried being the key word.

“The fuck?”

Niner tried to kick her legs. Nothing. Nothing but the itching and a sense that something was very wrong.

“Ok, no need to panic. Maybe it’s whatever they’ve got me on. Maybe they needed to numb the legs to help them heal. You’re not amputated, Niner girl. You’re fine.”

She tried to shift herself into a seated position, and realized that she didn’t have much sensation below her bellybutton. Panic flooded her veins.

“Ok, ok. Spinal injuries are a thing. No big deal. Tech these days can fix just about anything. HEY! HEY! WHERE IN THE FUCK IS MY DOCTOR?! SOMEONE GET IN HERE!”

A doctor ran in, along with the nurse who’d ignored her earlier.

“WHAT IN THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!”

The doctor didn’t speak to her. He rushed over to the IV and adjusted something. Clearly the saline bag was not what it seemed. Niner latched onto his lab coat and yanked him hard.

“HEY, FUCK THAT SHIT AND LISTEN TO ME YOU BASTARD!” 

“Please calm down, Four Seven Niner, the doctor is just trying to make sure that you are comfortable.”

The Councilor, the fucking Councilor, walked into the room with his trusty tablet in hand. The man’s bland face was in full force, but there was something off about it, just around the eyes. He was uncomfortable. Upset.

Something was very wrong. Niner couldn’t point to exactly what, just yet, but something was wrong.

“Comfortable, huh? Well, considering I can’t feel much except for this itchy sensation, I doubt comfort is as big a priority as keeping me from running away. Where the fuck is everyone? I get that I’m not in Freelancer armor, but I deserve a fucking bedside vigil after all the shit they’ve put me through.”

The Councilor waved the doctor and nurse out of the room, and came to stand by Niner’s bedside.

“Unfortunately, it seems as if Project Freelancer has been disbanded.”

Niner froze. 

“What?”

The Councilor nodded. He grabbed a chair from its place by the wall and sat down. He picked up a glass of water she hadn’t noticed, with a bendy straw in the glass, and held it for Niner to drink. As she sucked down the liquid relief, he filled her in.

“Agents Texas and York attacked the ship, they brought it down, and killed a great many people in the process. You were injured in the crash. Agent North kidnapped Agent South from the wreckage, Agent Maine has disappeared, Agents Texas and York are AWOL. Agent Washington is still in the infirmary, along with Agent Wyoming who was injured in the crash.”

A sinking feeling settled in her stomach.

“Florida and Carolina?”

He shook his head.

“Agent Florida perished in the crash, and Agent Maine murdered Agent Carolina.”

Ice flooded Niner’s veins.

“God.”

The Councilor nodded.

“I feel that you should know, the itching sensation you are feeling is likely your body adjusting to the damage you have sustained.”

That was the nice way of putting things. Whenever he was delicate, it always meant there was a more painful option out there.

“Chair bound, huh? Any idea how long?”

“There are miraculous feats of technological advancement every day-“

And there it was.

“So, basically, prognosis is bad. I get it. You guys planning on shipping me home, or do I need to hitchhike?”

The Councilor shifted his body just slightly, hardly noticeable if you weren’t looking, but the movement was enough to tell her that he was up to something.

“Actually, we were hoping to offer you a…modified position.”

The man’s face didn’t change, his voice was as steady as ever, but Niner could hear a difference.

“Modified, huh? Gonna get me certified to fly a special bird?”

“We would like to offer you a position as the head of the recovery unit we are putting together. Your personal relationship with the agents may be helpful in finding them safely, and you are far too good an airman to be lost to such a…minor inconvenience.”

Normally, Niner would flip her shit at the dismissive tone he took, but there was something in the lilt of his voice that gave her pause.

“So, what? You put me through physical therapy, put me at a desk, and we look for our missing? What happens when we find them?”

His eyes change again. Not soft this time, but completely insincere. Liars eyes. He was good enough to rarely have an expression like that fall through.

“They have abandoned a military project, stolen equipment, and potentially destroyed any hope of winning the war. When we find them, they are to be court martialled.”

She saw his game this time. The Councilor was uncomfortable to be around sometimes, creepy was the common descriptor, but he’d genuinely cared about the Agents. He encouraged them to make bonds, become a team, act like friends. 

He’d taken the time to learn about each and every member, beyond what would be expected for the team therapist.

“I’m not exactly keen on my friends going to prison.”

He nodded.

“It is an unfortunate circumstance that we face, but one that is necessary. I believe it would be preferable for them to be put into a cell, rather than killed by Agent Maine.”

Because cells can be broken out of, but death is death.

“Well, I guess you can sign me up.”

His smile was soft, and Niner realized that he must be facing away from whatever or whoever was observing her. She must have been slow to make that kind of rookie mistake. 

Drugs in the saline drip, probably. Maybe pain meds. It would explain why she didn’t feel anything worse than some mild throbbing after her spine was apparently wrecked beyond repair.

“Wonderful. Welcome aboard, Recovery Command. I will speak to your doctors personally about your injuries and give you a more in-depth assessment as we go on. For now, rest and heal, and I will see if I can’t get ahold of one of your siblings.”

She’d signed a waiver a long time ago to keep her biological family from contacting her, part of being in a secret government program. They both knew that.

“Great, let them know Big Sis is stuck in bed for a while?”

“More that she’s on the road to recovery, and is going to do her best to make sure that everything turns out well. Family should stick together after all.”

With that The Councilor squeezed her hand, gave her his tablet, and left.

Because that wasn’t ominous at all.

Niner tried to shift into a more comfortable position, but couldn’t make it happen. She finally huffed and closed her eyes in a desperate attempt to rest.

That’s right guys, Big Sis is looking out of you.

**Author's Note:**

> Niner was one of my absolute favorite minor characters from Red vs Blue, and I wanted to see her continue to go forward.
> 
> I will freely admit that I stole the idea of Niner in a wheelchair from the Donut Siblings verse by Hinn_Raven. It's awesome and funny and you should definitely read that.
> 
> And yes, Carolina is not actually dead. Neither is Florida. Their plotlines are with the original canon for the moment.


End file.
